Railway-switch heater



W-.T. LAWLOR.

RAILWAY SWITCH HEATER. APPLICATION FILED MAR} 31, I92].

1 ,40 1 ,7 98 Patented Dec. 27, 1921.

' w. T. LA WLOR WITNESSES 1 'A TTOR/VEYS RAILWAY-SWITCH HEATER.-

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Deg, 27, 1921,

v Application filed March 31, 1921. Serial No. 457,231.

To all whom it may concern Beit known that 1, "WILLIAM T. LAwLoR, acitizen of the United States, and a'resident of Jersey City, inthecounty of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented a new andImproved Railway-Switch Heater, of which the following is a full, clear,and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in railway switch heaters, andhas particular reference to devices of the character illustrated inLetters Patent of the United States, #1,327,488, issued to me on January6th, 1920, said patent disclosing a device in which a plurality of opentopped oil pans are located between the ties of a railroad under therails of a switch mechanism, and in which oil is burned in the pans tokeep the switches open and in working order during heavy snowstorms.

In these devices, the oil feed pipe enters the pan below its upper edge.It has been discovered that during warm weather rain collects in the"pans and when a sudden change in temperature occurs, the rain water inthe pans freezes and blocks the fuel inlets so that it is necessary topickthe ice out of the pans in order to permit a flow of fuel.

It is an object of this invention, therefore, to provide covers for thepans, which will prevent water from collecting therein duringrainstorms, and which may be quickly moved out of the way when the pansare in use.

A still further object is to provide means for simultaneously operatingall of the pan covers and to provide covers and operating mechanismstherefor, which will be simple and practical in construction, strong anddurable in use, and comparatively inexpensive to manufacture.

l Vith these and other objects in view, the invention consists incertain novel features of construction and combinations and arrangementsof parts as will be more fully hereinafter described and pointed out inthe claims.

in the accompanying drawings v Figure 1 is a plan view of a fragment ofa railway switch and adjacent parts showing my improved heater inapplied position;

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of one of the pans illustrating the details ofthe .pan cover and its actuating mechanism; 7

Referring morespecifically to'the drawings I show a conventionalarrangement of cross ties 1O spaced from one another and upon which thestock rail 11, switch rail 12, and movable switch points 13 and 14 aresupported in any well known or approved manner.

15 indicates a reservoir adapted to contain any suitable supply ofliquid fuel such as crude oil or the like, the same being adapted to beconveyed to and along the switch mechanism by means of a transverse pipe16 and parallel longitudinal pipes 17 and 18, shown as supported uponthe end portions of the cross ties on opposite sides of the railwayrails. These longitudinal pipes may be secured in a fixed position withrespect to the ItlllS' by means of clips 19 fixed to certain of theties.

The improved pan or receptacle for the liquid fuel is shown as a wholeat 20 and comprises a semi-cylindrical body 21 having a rounded bottomand vertical end walls 22, shown as rectangular in form and having theirlower edges 22 lying in the same horizontal plane and'serving asmeans tosupport the pan firmly upon the ballast 23 below and betweenthe ties.Thus it will be seen that the end walls 22 not only serve to close thereceptacle body at the ends but constitute downward extensions below therounded convex bottom of the pan. One side of the pan body is providedwith a nipple 24 having a port 25 opening into the hollow interior I ofthe pan along which the liquid fuel may be caused to drip or pour from atube 26 leadingfrom one of the side pipes 17, the quantity of the oildelivered being regulatable delicately by the adjustment of a valvetubes 26.

The invention in this case resides primarily in the provision of flatcovers 28 for the pans. Channel guide blocks 29 are secured upon the'endwalls of the pans and the covers 28 are slidable between the guideblocks. T h pan covers include at each end a forwardly presented arm 30.When the covers are pulled back to permit the burning of fuel in thepans, the arms 30 will serve to prevent the covers from completedisengagement with the pans and will guide the moveseated in each ofthe.

ment of the covers incidental to again closing the pans.

I do not Wish to be limited to any particular means for operating thecovers, but I have illustrated one practical mechanism forsimultaneously operating all of the covers 01 one series of pans.

Located upon the ends of the cross ties 10, are split bearing blocks 31,in which crank shafts 32 located in parallelism with the pipes 17 and 18are mounted. Relatiyelyshort crank arms 88 are rigidly connected to thecrank shafts 32. A crank lever 3a is provided at the endo'lf each shaft82 for operating the arms. Brackets 35 are secured upon the rear endsofeach cover and links 36 are pivotally connected at one end to thecrank arins and at their other ends to th brackets.

It will thus he seen by swinging the cranl: levers 34, the pan covers.48 Will he simultaneously operatel through the medium of the crank arms83 and the links Various slight changes and. alterations might be madein the general "form and arrangement of the parts described Withoutdeparting from the invention, and hence I do not Wish to limit inysel'lto the precise details set forth, but shall consider myself at libertyto make such slight changes and alterations fairly fall Within thespiritand scope of the appended claims.

1 claim:

1. in a heating device for railway switches, the combination with asystem of pipes, a reservoir from which said pipes are adapted to conveyfluid fuel, and a plural ty of open topped pans located rails andcommunicating with the pipes, of covers adapted to cover the tops of thepans, and means for simultaneously operatin covers.

pipes, a reservoir i'roin which said pipes are adapted to convey fluidfuel, and a plurality of open topped pans located beneath the rails andcommnnicatin With the pipes, oi? channel guide members carried by thepans, p ii covers slidahle in the guide members, and means forsimultaneously operating all or said covers.

3. 111 a heating device for railway switches, the combination with asystem of pipes, a reservoir from which said pipes adapted convey liuidfuel, and a plurality of open topped pans located beneath the rails andcci iicating with the pipes, of channel guide members carried by thepans, pan covers slidable in the guide members, and means forsimultaneously operating all of said covers, said means comprising acrank shaft, crank arms carried by the crank shaft, means operativelyconnecting the cranlr arms and covers, and means for operating theshaft.

l. lln a heating device for railway switches, th combination with asystem of pipes, a reservoir from which said pipes are adapted to conveyfluid :tuei, and a plurality open topped pans located beneath the railsand communicating with the pipes, of Cllci-llllfil guide members carriedby the pans, pan covers slidable in the guide members, and means forsimultaneously operating all of said covers, said means comprising acrank shaft, a crank lever fixed to the shaft, crank arms carried by theshaft, brackets 0 'ed to the pan covers, links pivotally coni: netted tothe brackets and crank arms.

The herein d scribed track heating

